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You’ll remember I cheated and started the O antiphons one day early. This is because in mediaeval English practice, the O antiphons were begun early, and an extra antiphon was tagged on at the end. England being the Our Lady’s Dowry, we finish the sequence with O virgo virginum (virgin of virgins). This makes the reverse acrostic ‘vero cras’, ‘truly tomorrow’.

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Finally, we reach O Emmanuel (God-with-us, finally pointing straight at the nativity). If you take the first letters of all the O antiphons, you get OOOOOOO, which isn’t helpful, but if you take the first letters of the words after the O, you get sarcore, which is ero cras backwards; ‘ero cras’ is Latin for ‘I will be there tomorrow’.

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The next O antiphon is ‘O Oriens’. Normally translated ‘morning star’ it really means ‘rising sun’ or ‘day break’. (John and I think the morning star is Venus, which is not the same thing at all.) At this time of year, we really are looking out for a rising sun.

In English:O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

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In O Sapientia (O wisdom), I am reminded of the spirit of the lord hovering over the primordial soup in Genesis; In O Adonai (O lord), we remember the Lord who revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush (I am who I am) and handed over the ten commandments. Now we come to Jesse, the ancestor of David, and a reminder that God, the root of Jesse, is king of kings.

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Today is the beginning of Advent part II. The first part of Advent was more vague, and focused first the coming of Christ on the last day as much as the coming of Christ at Christmas. Now, we start remembering the nativity of Christ and preparing for our celebrations of Christmas. There are 7 days between now and the day before Christmas Eve, including today, so we now have an octave to prepare for Christmas. The O antiphons (beginning with the interjection ‘O’), are one thing we can use to prepare in this way.

You’ll notice I cheated and began yesterday. This is because I like the Anglican tradition, which gives nine days to the preparation (a novena). There is another reason, which I will explain in the fulness of time.